


Soothing a Guilty Conscience

by ElysianWayfarer



Category: Nevermoor Series - Jessica Townsend
Genre: BROT3, Gen, guilt complexes, i might make this an actual fic but idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 13:41:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28546515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElysianWayfarer/pseuds/ElysianWayfarer
Summary: The Elders didn't want to take any chances.Percy isn't sure what to do with his situation, and frankly, neither does anyone else.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Soothing a Guilty Conscience

_ What were the Elders thinking?  _

Percy heard his father mutter under his breath, having come from a meeting at WunSoc, his expression equal parts flabbergasted and confused.

_ What were the Elders thinking? _

His mother remarked to herself, pouring through the books that had been sent late at night in order to help her son through this recent development.

_ What were the Elders thinking?  _

Adrian’s voice was a barely contained shout, while Marie looked to be in the middle of processing it all, Jack was straight up surprised and Morrigan was a mix of confused and mad. 

He’s heard those five words repeat around him, usually associated with shock and surprise. Now he’s standing at a Station platform labelled  _ STATION 917 _ , the Hometrain (Morrigan had told him about those kinds of things before) is there, dressed in a uniform with a golden W-pin and everyone’s staring at him. The conductor had the decency to look sympathetic, while others regarded him with a mixture of fear and contempt. The information he was told hours ago finally sunk in: They basically speedran him into becoming a Wundrous Society member, setting him into Unit 917 only  _ days  _ after the expulsion of Alfie Swann, and he has to catch up quickly to the level of his older peers. 

“...What the fuck were the Elders thinking...?” Perseus North whispered to himself as he slowly made his way to board the carriage. 

—

Percy wasn’t expecting his apparent “brothers and sisters” to be kind to him, especially for basically replacing one of their own (it hadn’t been Alfie’s fault, of course, but nonetheless). In fact he was expecting them to be quite rude in turn. He was right. Sort of. Reception was lukewarm (most of the unit) at best and antagonistic at worst. (Heloise Redchurch, to be specific, but then again he recalled being told that she and Alfie are an item. Double ouch to her.) He usually tries to be cordial to his new Unit either way, but most are still quite wary of the circumstances (he can’t blame them, this entire thing was nuts).  Catching up to speed though, wasn’t nearly as hard as he had expected. The ginger boy thought he was going to have to pull all-nighters getting like 5 things done before next week. The good news was that he only had 2 classes. The bad news was one of them was  _ Wundersmith History _ . 

The good news in the bad though was that he was sitting with Morrigan, oftentimes they’d pass notes while paying attention (pretending to) to Professor Onstald go on and on and on about how Wundersmiths are the devils of society and that just by being born they’ve already soiled the city with their Wundersmith-ness and such. The worse news in the bad news was since he’s three to four levels higher than Mog and he can’t exactly be held back, his workload is a bit heavier than his sister’s with exams to boost through to where his older unit members are. 

Fortunately for him, his second class,  _ Decoding Nevermoor _ , was less (emotionally) heavy. Mildmay was a breath of fresh air compared to everything and everyone else. A rather dorky, but otherwise friendly character, Percy could see why he quickly became Morrigan’s favorite teacher (other than that she only had two to pick from). Exploring the different passageways was also incredibly interesting, with Nevermoor and its twists and turns and other delightfully weird things. 

That being said though, he still felt… heavy. Like a weight on his shoulders. It didn’t take too long to realize what it was though - it was guilt. Guilt for standing amongst 917 as Alfie’s  _ replacement _ . He can’t fill that void, of course he can’t. Alfie was with them from their starting years, while he had joined mere months, heck  _ weeks _ in. The vow said, ‘Brothers and sisters for life’, but frankly, Percy doesn’t feel like it applied to him. To 917 he was a stranger. A dangerous stranger who as far as they were concerned, shouldn’t be here. 

Percy sighed, trying to focus on his book and pushing back that loneliness away. He has a lot of work ahead of him, and feelings be damned, he wasn’t going to let anything get in his way. 

—

“Uh… Mind if I sit here?” 

Percy glanced up from his book up at the source of the voice. Tall and broad, dark brown hair. The boy looked around the cafe he was in, looking if there were any available spots. None. Huh.

“Sure.” He said with a friendly smile, before moving back to his book. The boy spoke again.

“You’re part of WunSoc?” Percy looked up from his book again, about to ask how he knew that when he remembered the golden W-pin attached to his lapel. He nods in response with a soft,”Mhm.” 

The boy nods, a sad look on his face,”Used to be a part of it, but…” he trailed off at that, his look becoming more troubled,”...Let’s just say, I couldn’t be there anymore.” 

“...” Percy sets the book down,”...I… I’m sorry to hear that.” 

The response was hushed and uncertain.

He chuckled sadly, “I’ve heard a lot of that when people found out why. My girlfriend’s a member too, she was distraught finding out I had to go.” It was then, Percy finally realized who he was talking to. At that realization, a shot of fear went up his spine. His companion seemed to have noticed his tension and spoke again.

“Hey, I’m not going to hurt anyone, yknow.” Alfie laughed again, “I may look big but I don’t really like hurting people.” 

_ Not according to Mog,  _ Percy thought,  _ But then again, she only ever really met Alfie when he was with Heloise and SHE can hold a grudge.  _

“I just…” Percy sighs, looking around before continuing with a whisper,”I’m… I’m part of 917… I’m supposed to be your replacement.” 

Alfie was silent at that. Percy prepares himself for any retort from the older boy, but none comes. Instead, he let out a confused noise.

“I don’t get it. You look 12,” He said, “Unit 917 is in its 4th year.” 

The ginger is stilled into silence, before shrugging aimlessly and muttering, “I don’t get it either.” 

“What’s your knack?” 

Oh there it is, the question he’s been fearing, 

“Or is it classified like the Knackless One from 919?”

_ Morrigan.  _ He thinks, hearing that name. He sighs,”I...Can’t tell you. Not yet anyways. It’s complicated.” He prepares himself again, and again it doesn’t come. 

“Ah.” Alfie nodded, he looked rather disappointed at that, “Since I’m not a scholar anymore, I can’t make you tell me.” 

He seemed nice, actually, Percy thinks to himself. Maybe a little simple minded but otherwise he was fairly polite. Perhaps it was because he’s not with Heloise? 

“...Sorry.” 

“For?” The older boy tilted his head, Percy feels his heart race.

“For… replacing you.” He continued, “it’s not fair. Not to you, or your Unit. I feel like a stranger around them and I just…” was he tearing up? Fuck, he’s tearing up, “The guilt is weird.” Someone stop him he’s pouring his heart out to the boy he replaced months ago this is so embarrassing aah—

“It’s okay.” 

Percy blinked at that,”C-Come again?”

“I said it’s okay.” Alfie sighed softly, “It’s not your fault. I think… I think leaving WunSoc might’ve been for the best anyways.” 

More stunned silence. Percy isn’t sure what to say at that. “They’ll come around eventually. They just need time to think.” 

“...you’ve…” He finally spoke,”...accepted it?” 

“It’s the only thing I can do, really. It’s not easy, but I don’t have a lot of options.” 

He doesn’t know what to do to comfort him, all he can do is rasp out a reply as a weight is off his shoulders.

“T...Thank you.” 

They fall into a comfortable silence for a while. Percy speaks again,”Hey, I…” he coughed,”If you need any help with finding your way or with whatever you’re doing now… I’ll see… I’ll see what I can do.” 

He had thought about it. He’s thought of ways to help if he could. If Nevermoor wasn’t so nitpicky about outsiders, he could have sent Alfie to Earth for schooling (Adrian and Marie could probably help him get on his feet.) but alas, he’ll have to work at it some other way…

Alfie smiled at that and nodded,”Thanks.” 

—

“Heloise?” He approached the green-haired girl while waiting for the Hometrain to arrive. It was sometime after that talk, specifically, the days following the situation with the Ghastly Market (he shudders, thinking about it). To WunSoc, the beans have been spilled: they know that Morrigan and he were Wundersmiths. Percy’s yet to actually have talked with his unit after all that, though Toby had said that they needed time to process it all (yet another thing he couldn’t blame them for). 

That being said, Percy noted that his presence in 917 was now being treated as a welcome one rather than the previous indifference. They were smiling at him and cracking jokes and… well, he would describe it as them finally accepting him as a “brother”. 

He still wanted to talk to Heloise though. About Alfie. 

“Mm?” She had responded, one hand fiddling with one of the throwing stars she usually had on her person,”Anything wrong, North?” 

“First off,” he makes a face,”You  _ can _ call me Percy.” She laughed in response, “Secondly… I wanted to talk. I figured this concerned you as much as it concerned me.” 

“Okay…?” Heloise glances at the tunnel, checking if the Hometrain would arrive anytime soon,”What is it?” 

“Can you, uh…” he coughs, feeling a tinge of red come to his cheeks, “...Help me with figuring out the educational system outside of WunSoc…?”

A beat, Heloise’s face is nothing short of confusion, prompting Percy to continue.

“I-It’s just… well, I’ve been meeting up with Alfie the last few days before… y'know, Mildmay.” He makes another face at the name, like he just smelled something bad, “Trying to help where I can about his… situation,” Heloise noticeably flinches at that, “But I’m… not as knowledgeable about the options? Basically, I need some help figuring out how to help Alfie the best I can and.” The boy coughs,”As his girlfriend, I figured you know more about him than—“ 

“Stop Stop.” She holds up a hand in order to stop his rambling,”What do you need to know?”. Heloise is smirking. Percy’s expression lights up at that, before pulling out a notebook and a pen. 

“Well, I was wondering if…” 

This year was a weird one, but in the end, Percy faces his second— er, fifth? year at WunSoc feeling less alone than before, and with a guilty conscience off his shoulders. 


End file.
